


Recollection

by InsaneNetwork_Spider (orphan_account)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Apples, Brothers, Gen, Memories, My First Work in This Fandom, Nightmare's Gang - Freeform, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, multiverse au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21763243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/InsaneNetwork_Spider
Summary: Recollection: the action or faculty of remembering something.King Starlight's life has been normal, up until the Darkness, the very force he's been fighting against, kidnaps him. Well, let's see how long he survives.Yay! My first story here! Hope y'all like it!
Kudos: 12





	1. Meetings; Part One

"Sir? K-King Starlight?" The aforementioned king sighs heavily.

"Yes?"

"I-It's the Darkness. They've attacked again. They-They have a prisoner!" The squire shrinks back as Starlight stands abruptly.

Starlight growls, "I thought I told my people to refrain from venturing near the borders and the Darkness!"

"N-No! King Starlight, we believe it's an outsider..."

Starlight waves the squire off as he storms down the hall. "Send the message. We're travelling within the hour." The squire murmurs, scampering off.

Starlight throws his hooded cape on, shadowing his face. He doesn’t need this for his people— no! —they were heading down through the labyrinth that lay beneath the kingdom, hopefully making their way to the castle. No, the disguise (of sorts) is to hide his face from the Darkness. Starlight runs through the empty cobbled streets, rushing to where he feels the negative energy, the signature of the Darkness.

"Do the people of this AU eat any food? Where do they store it? How do they live?!" Starlight stops short, sliding up against the brick wall of a house. He peers around the corner and listens to the Darkness group.

"What?! No tacos? Chocolate?"

"Not even any condiments? Mustard?"

"Ketchup?"

"Quit your whining, dorks." Starlight furrows his brows, pulling back. _Dorks?_ Maybe he'd misjudged the group. Maybe-

"Don't. Move," a voice commands darkly, and Starlight can feel his sins crawling on his back. Slowly, he turns around, keeping his head down. As soon as he feels the cold aura of the knife on his hood, he blows out his eyelights. The hood is thrown off and the blade moves to lift Starlight's chin, forcing him to come face-to-face with another like him— only with streaks of pure hate pooling out of his eyes. The one with the knife frowns slightly, calling out to the others. “Guys, I found this AU’s Sans.”

“That’s not my name,” Starlight replies instantaneously, freezing up when the blade presses against his collarbone. The Darkness group’s pounding footsteps can be heard as they head over to him and the other.

“Heya, buddy.” A skeleton reaches his hand out to Starlight as the knife withdraws slightly. Starlight takes the skeleton’s hand, and a tremendous noise erupts from the contact. It takes Starlight a second to figure out that the other has played a prank on him, and cracks a smile. The skeleton is about to release his hand when Starlight squeezes it, sending a pulse of his magic to the other. It becomes tangible, circling their connected hands before glowing sunset orange and exploding in an array of tiny fireworks.

“Whoa...” The skeleton murmurs in amazement, staring at the fireworks. He finally lets go, stepping back.

“You’re the Sans of this world, right?” Another skeleton questions, one with a hole in his skull. Starlight eyes the axe the other carries warily. “Where is everyone? And where’s the food?”

“My name isn’t Sans, and I provide the rations.” Starlight isn’t sure why, but he believes that there might be some good in them, despite being told by everyone that that isn’t supposed to be the case.

“So you say.” This time a skeleton covered in monster dust and reeking of death speaks. “What is your name, then? And can we trust you?”

“I’m- Wait..... why would you be worried about me trusting you? You’re the Darkness, and.....” Actually, Starlight realizes, that’s all he was told by the people. _Don’t trust the Darkness, they are all evil,_ was all he was ever told. “I-I’m Starlight!”

"Can we trust you?" The skeleton that found him inquires, staring Starlight down.

Starlight nods. "Yeah! ....As long as I get to know your names!" The ground starts to shake, bits and pieces of the ground coming apart.

"It's falling apart, we should probably get out of here," a skeleton with sharp teeth states blandly.

"Yeah, sorry, Sans-- Starlight --but your world is coming to an end," the skeleton with hate streaks comments, causing Starlight to gasp slightly.

"What? N-No!" He isn't given a chance to explain because the only skeleton that hasn't spoken the entire time grabs his arm, pulling him into a portal edged with negativity. Traveling through the portal makes Starlight feel as though he's being drained of all energy.

"Cross? Who's this?" The voice fades in and out as Starlight collapses and loses consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am willing to take suggestions for "Recollection," if any of you are willing.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


	2. Meetings; Part Two

_"Brother, brother! Catch me!"_

_"Brother, what on Earth are you doing?! Get down from there!"_

_"Only if you catch me!"_

"-arlight?" Starlight groans, forcing his eyes open. He doesn't use his eyelights, keeping his socket dark, a fear habit he won't be giving up on anytime soon. "What happened?" Starlight moans again, sitting up and looking around. Everyone is standing around him, and the one that brought him through the portal is staring worriedly down at him.

"I-I'm fine! Don't worry." Starlight offers the skeleton a smile, which quickly drops when he remembers how he came to be in this situation. "No!" He scrambles to his feet, glancing around. "My-My kingdom! I-I have to get back!"

"Your kingdom?"

"It was falling apart."

"There wasn't anything we could do."

"N-No..." Starlight murmurs. A skeleton radiating negativity steps forward, resting a hand on Starlight's shoulder. It felt strangely familiar...

"I'm sorry about your brother," he says.

_"W-Who are you?" It was an Autumn afternoon. The sun shone brightly through the leaves, blocking Starlight's view of the person in front of him._

_A skeletal hand reaches down to help Starlight up. "I'm your brother! I have a feeling we're gonna be best friends!"_

_"That sounds like fun!" Starlight takes the stranger's hand, standing up._

"I.... don't have.... a brother?" Starlight trails off in a questioning tone, glancing up to the skeleton who attempted to comfort him.

"You don't sound too sure," the skeleton chuckles. "I'm Nightmare, and this is my crew." Nightmare introduces Starlight to each skeleton.

"Classic." It's the skeleton that shook his hand. Starlight and Classic share a smile, the possible beginnings of an interesting friendship.

"Red." The skeleton with sharp teeth growls slightly at Starlight. Starlight takes note of Red's attachment to Classic, like a dog would have to its owner.

"Horror." Starlight wonders if Horror stores anything in his skull, as it's easily accessible thanks to the giant hole in his head.

"Cross." Cross appears young to Starlight, and he instantly feels responsible for the kid. Starlight smiles brightly at Cross, and the other appears to become happier simply by acknowledgement.

"Dust." Starlight is unnerved by the dark yet blank stare of the death-covered monster. For a moment, Starlight thought he saw someone else behind Dust, but he brushes it off as nothing.

"And Killer." Ahh, the one who found him. If Starlight hadn't been so careless, this may not have happened at all. The red target on Killer's chest draws Starlight's attention and the king finds himself wondering what all their souls look like now after all they must've gone through.

"Two other members also exist, but they don't really show up often." Starlight nods, glancing around. The ornate style of the room gives Starlight a small sense of his home in the castle.

"Is this a castle?"

"Yes...?" Nightmare appears confused when Starlight starts to shake.

"Iwonderifitslayoutisanythinglikemycastle! Whatalldoyouhaveinthecastle? Howmanyrooms?"

"Whoa, kid, chill!" Killer laughs, his smile tight. Nightmare eyes Killer slightly, and Starlight takes notice of their stressed expressions.

"I'm sorry to be such a bother to you. I understand why you don't trust me," Starlight says, smiling warmly. Cross frowns in confusion as the rest of the Darkness crew shifts slightly.

"It's okay, you can sleep on the couch tonight," Horror suggests, glancing between the others. They gradually begin to nod their agreement, and they all leave to their respective rooms, leaving Starlight alone in the dark. Starlight shivers, why is it suddenly so cold? Starlight steps towards the couch, pausing in hesitation. It didn't feel _right_ to sleep on the couch, not to Starlight. He always felt more at peace under the large tree in his garden-

Starlight's demeanor sours as the king recalls his beautiful home. He turns away from the couch, grabbing a couple pillows and blankets provided. He curls up in the corner, covering himself in blankets and dozing off.

_"Do you love me?" It was a cold winter night, and Starlight and his brother were sitting against a large tree, covered up in blankets. A crescent moon shone brightly above them._

_Starlight leans away from his brother. "I'm your brother, of course I do!" Starlight hugs his brother._

_"B-But what i-if I was evil and I hurt you?" His brother wraps his arms around Starlight, his voice shaking._

_"I'd still love you! And I doubt you'd ever purposefully hurt me!" Starlight's chipper voice exclaims._

Starlight wakes up, groaning quietly. "This is all too weird..." he mumbles, pushing the blankets off of him and standing up. "If this is anything like my castle..." Starlight trudges through the halls, finding himself in a garden. "Well, I _was_ trying to find the kitchen, but this'll do." Starlight walks through the garden, surprised that many plants were flourishing in such a cold, dark environment. Looking up to the sky, Starlight frowns. "The moon is a crescent out here, just like in my dream." The king sits against a large tree that gives him a closer feeling of safety than the original tree from his own garden. The tree at home was a willow, but this one is an older apple tree, with shiny green apples hanging from it. Seeing the apples fills the king with a sense of dread and sorrow, and he squeezes his eye sockets shut. "Of course I'd find serenity under an apple tree of all things." Shaking his skull, Starlight drifts off again. His final thoughts consist of, _Oh, I was told not to leave that room... shoot._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am willing to take suggestions for "Recollection," if any of you are willing.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


	3. Heights; Part One

Starlight wakes up to a bone attack facing him, about two inches from his face. In such a dangerous situation, Starlight does what any normal person might do— he screeches.

"I should kill you right now," the familiar voice of Dust states. "You broke the rule. Granted, unspoken, but nonetheless— you knew the rule, and broke it."

"I-If that's what you think you should do..." Starlight isn't sure why he's encouraging Dust. "I trust your judgement."

Those words appear to have an effect on the dust-covered skeleton, as the attack diminishes. "Nightmare would kill me." Dust offers Starlight a hand, and the king gladly takes it. Dust's grip on Starlight's hand tightens. "But if you make another incorrect move, I can and _will_ kill you." Starlight nods nervously, walking beside the other.

"Who's he?" Starlight pipes up after a minute of heavy silence. Dust gives Starlight a bewildered look.

"You can see Paps?" Dust gapes. Starlight hums his answer.

"So that's his name? Huh, I would've figured it's be something a little darker..." Dust pushes Starlight against the brick wall, holding a bone attack to Starlight's clavicle.

"Don't tell Nightmare or the gang, you hear me?" The death-reeking monster hisses dangerously.

"Y-Yeah!" Starlight squeeks.

Dust growls, "Good." The bone attack disappears and Dust keeps walking down the hall. After a second, Starlight scrambles after the other. Dust leads Starlight back into the living room area, calling out to whoever might hear, “Found ‘im!”

Horror hums happily, setting a plate down on the coffee table. “Great job, man! I was just about to call everybody else for breakfast.” Horror looks over at Starlight, his smile faltering.

“W-What?” Starlight steps closer, hoping to attempt to comfort Horror. Horror’s frown only deepens. “What’s wrong? I’m sorry for anything I might’ve done to make you feel this way!”

Horror shakes his head, looking back up at Starlight. “It’s fine, I just thought you were smaller...” Starlight stares.

“What?”

Horror hums again. “I said I thought you were smaller than you really are... How tall are you?”

“Uh...... 5’8”....?” Horror pouts, causing Starlight to stifle a laugh.

“How tall is everyone else?” Starlight questions. Horror holds his hand up and opens his mouth to answer, but pauses, and runs off. “Uh...”

Dust answers Starlight’s second, unspoken question, “He’s getting everyone else up.” Starlight suddenly realizes he’s alone with Dust and his ghost.

***Starlight feels his sins crawling on his back.**

“You know... Horror and Cross and Killer and Nightmare.... they’re like my family.... they _are_ my family.....” Dust’s voice gets closer and quieter after each pause, and soon the skeleton is standing directly behind the ruler without citizens. “If you hurt them— mentally, emotionally, or physically —I’ll make you wish you were dead... and then you will be.” Starlight’s health bar appears in front of him. 35/ _48, cut down by fear alone._

“Horror, what-“ Starlight’s health bar disappears as the king snaps his head up to see a sleepy group of skeletons being pulled along by the cracked figure of Horror.

“Line up, I wanna see everyone’s height,” Horror commands. Cross practically skips over to Starlight’s right as Dust takes to Starlight’s left. Classic trudges over to stand next to Cross, and Red slouches next to Classic. Nightmare yawns, moving to stand next to Dust, and Killer follows Nightmare. Horror steps back, looking at everyone. “I’m gonna need some more data.” Horror pulls out his phone, dialing a number before anyone, namely Killer, could stop him. “Yeah, Ink? Hi, I need some more people to meet me at Blue’s so I can confirm some data.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am willing to take suggestions for "Recollection," if any of you are willing.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


	4. Heights; Part Two

Starlight hums anxiously, shifting in between Nightmare and Cross. Horror had asked for someone’s help— Ink, he said —and this 'Ink' brought a few friends. Then another Sans appeared, going by the name of Paperjam, and he brought a couple more Sanses. A bright little Sans, calling himself Blueberry, was extremely pleased to be in such diverse company, yet nervous that such characters were in his world.

"H-HELLO! WOULD YOU LIKE SOME T-TACOS?" Cross's skull shoots up.

"Tacos?! Yes please!" Blueberry smiles at Cross, running off into the house.

Horror shrugs, "Well, he wasn't all-too-important to my studies. He was too short."

"THEN WHY THE HECKITY HECK AM I HERE?" SwapFell growls, stomping his foot and attempting to be intimidating. It doesn't seem to have an effect on Horror.

The bloody skeleton laughs, "For a simple reason-- to make Blue happy."

SwapFell pauses, his purple scarf swaying gently in the breeze. “YEAH, YEAH, FINE...” SwapFell sits down on the snow, muttering to himself.

Horror rolls his neon red eyelight, turning back to the others. “Now that you’re all lined up by height, do any of you know your exact height?”

“I’m 5 foot,” Classic comments. Horror nods, pulling a measuring tape out of his inventory.

“I’m about 1.9 meters tall,” FlowerFell pipes up. “How tall would that be in feet?”

Surprisingly, Lust answers before anyone else. “6’4.” Horror hums, writing the number in a notebook.

“Now to measure everyone else!” Horror chirps above everyone’s groans of irritation.

* * *

Horror finishes up twelve minutes later, and relays his findings. “So, with Classic being the center of the normality height scale, Blue and SwapFell are abnormally short; FlowerFell, Nightmare, Starlight, Cross, and myself are abnormally tall!” Horror slams his notebook shut. “You’re free to go!”

“WELL, IT IS LATE,” Blue starts.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” Dance rolls his eyelights.

“No _shiz_ , Blue,” Paperjam sighs.

Blue pouts “WELL, I _WAS_ GOING TO SUGGEST THAT SINCE IT’S CHRISTMASTIME (CHRISTMAS IS LEGITIMATELY TOMORROW) HERE, THAT YOU ALL SHOULD STAY WITH US AND CELEBRATE!”

Murmurs of agreement ripple throughout the group, but Starlight’s voice rings out, “What’s Christmas?” The air falls heavy with stunned silence. “O-Oh, I’m so sorry! I-I-“

“Dude, chill.” Outer rests his hand on Starlight’s shoulder, being on the entirely opposite side of the spectrum of height than Starlight and unable to reach the king’s shoulder. “We’ll teach you about Christmas!”

“YEAH!” FellSwap (not SwapFell, they both get angry when they’re mixed up) cheers. “JUST GIVE ME ALL YOUR _FUNKING_ PRESENTS!” Fresh sighs when FellSwap sends him a cold glare.

“Presents?” Starlight echos.

Killer face-palms. “This is gonna be a long couple days.....” Dust nods and Nightmare hums his agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am willing to take suggestions for "Recollection," if any of you are willing.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


	5. Christmas Special

Starlight found it hard to keep up with all the attention he was getting and all the knowledge being thrown at him. Excusing himself, he sits next to Classic and a taller skeleton by the name of Stretch.

“So why isn’t it just called Giftmas like back home?” Classic questions. Stretch shrugs.

“It’s the same thing, basically, but Napstaton heard the kid say it a couple times and thought it would bring in more visitors. Of course, only one area would get it and the kid voted Snowdin change their holiday name. And so we did and now more monsters tend to come around this time.”

“How long has it been Christmas?” Starlight pipes up. Again, Stretch shrugs.

“The kid is..... 17, now? Yeah, so..... it’s been called Christmas for about six years.”

Classic nods a couple times. “And how come you haven’t gotten out?” Starlight is thoroughly confused and decides to find others to socialize with. Starlight sits across from a darker skeleton with the name of Error. It fits him well, as parts of his body display ‘ERROR’ messages.

“Whatcha doin’?” Starlight asks.

“N0nE of y-Y0ur bu51nESs, G117cH!” Error snaps. Starlight jumps, falling onto his back. Error sighs, pausing his craft to rub his skull. “SorRY, 01d h@b1tS D-diE H@rD. It HA5N’t beEN 7h@7 10Ng 51nCe we 570pPed.”

“W-What?” Starlight hesitates. “How long? What stopped? Are you okay?” Error chuckles.

“We w-W3rE F1gh7INg 4 @ whILe, 0V3r b@1anCE. wE CaM3 2 AN @Gr33Men7 a Li7713 UnDER @ Y3@r Ag0.”

“So, this- this is your first Christmas in peaceful company?” Error nods. “What are you doing?”

Error holds up a well-made doll of a skeleton holding a small ketchup bottle. He says, “G1f7S!” Starlight hums his acknowledgement, pulling a picture out of his inventory. “Wh@7’s Tha7?”

“A picture of my friends from before-“ Starlight shakes his skull, putting the photo away. “Ugh, I can’t deal with this right now.” Error shrugs, going back to working on his gifts.

“Yo, Star!” Paperjam rests his hand on Starlight’s skull. “Let’s go find some of the vodka and spike the eggnog!”

“P@p3RJam, _n0_ ,” Error advises.

“Yeah, yeah, al’ight Pops.”

“Paperjam, please don’t call me Star- Wait, what?” Starlight gapes, his gaze bouncing from Paperjam, who looks more like the Creator’s kid, and Error, who doesn’t seem to be one to have kids.

“PJ, I t-t01D yoU N07 7o c@11 me 7HaT. y0u’r3 0NLy 7hE b@51C cU1min@710N of My 57r1nGS Nd Ink’s.... 1nK.... & tHE m@G1C And D373RM1n@710n w/1N 7hE 5tR1NGs aNd INK.”

“Wow, yeah, no big deal. I’m not like, your illegitimate child or anything, nooo...” Starlight glances between the two.

“This is.... a family matter? I’m just g-gonna leave....” Starlight manages, pushing himself up and stepping back. He turns around and heads for the couch. As soon as he sits down, however, something latches on to his midsection. Moreover, some _one_ — Lust. “Wh-What?” Lust shifts, and part of his face becomes visible— it’s flushed a dark violet, a sure sign of drunkenness.

“He’s a cuddler when he gets like this,” Fresh pipes up from the other side of the couch. “But I asked him to respect my boundaries.” Starlight nods slightly, his left arm slowly wrapping around Lust. For another hour or so, Starlight cuddles the drunk and sleepy Lust.

“Why did you have to attack him?!” Ink growls at Nightmare, hugging a sobbing Paperjam.

“ _I_ attacked _him_? Oh, that’s rich! He attacked Cross and I merely pushed him away from him.” Nightmare retorts, attempting to keep his cool. As the yelling escalates, the other participants start to take sides. With Ink is FlowerFell, Sci, Dance, Paperjam, FellSwap, Outer, and SwapFell. With Nightmare is Cross, Horror, Dust, and Killer.

“I don’t like fighting, I’m gonna tell Error I’m leaving.” Fresh disappears to find the glitchy skeleton. Classic and Red stand near Starlight and Lust, fidgeting nervously. Error walks up next to the couple of bystanders, opening a portal.

“Y0U 2 M-m1Gh7 w@NnA H3@D h0ME, if Y0u’R3 n07 gONN@ F1Gh7.” Classic and Red oblige. Starlight moves to follow, but Error stops him. “y0U s-Sh0U1dN’7 7@K3 H1m h0ME, hIS PE0P13 @r3..... N07 @11 to0 FR13nd1y wh3N H3’s 11kE 7His. w@17 Un711 hE’5 r3C0v3RED, 7h3N let mE OR N1gh7M@RE kN0w.” Error walks over and joins Nightmare’s side. Starlight frowns, hoisting Lust onto his back and trudging towards the groups.

“Yo Star!” Paperjam calls out, seemingly fine now. “Who’s side are you on?” Starlight grits his teeth, facing Paperjam and those siding with Ink. He steps back, away from Paperjam and Ink. Starlight turns around, smiling at Nightmare’s gang and taking their side.

“Now that that’s sorted out-“ Ink lunges at Starlight, whipping his paintbrush out. Starlight jumps back, readjusting his grip on Lust. The battle has begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am willing to take suggestions for "Recollection," if any of you are willing.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


	6. The Battle

Ink growls, rushing at Starlight again. “Just- stand- still!” Each word is followed by a splotch of paint being thrown about. Starlight huffs, sliding past the Creator. Error uses his strings to toss Ink into a wall, a sadistic smile plastered onto his skull.

“Ya kN0W, I’M f331inG gR47i0Us. i’11 G1vE U @ 535s10N of P@1n ‘nD hUR7 4 _fr33_ 7H15 71mE ArOuND!” Error tosses Ink at Paperjam, who merely sidesteps, then resorts to helping Ink off the ground.

“I’M DONE MESSING AROUND!” SwapFell charges at Cross, bone attacks raised.

Horror steps in front of Cross, deflecting the attacks with his axe. “Denied.” He pushes SwapFell away from Cross.

Cross mutters a few lines under his breath, and a large knife appears in his hand. Cross then attempts to make diced dust out of Dance. The aforementioned skeleton rolls under the attack, springing at the taller skeleton with an attack at the ready.

As the rest of Nightmare’s gang squares off against their opposers, Paperjam approaches Starlight. The skeleton takes necessary precautions, yanking his staff out of his inventory.

“Star, you could’ve joined us!” Paperjam complains, raising his hands in a slight shrug. “Still can. Lust would want you to do it.” The dark skeleton offers the king his hand.

“Uh, nah, thanks though.” Starlight steps back, poking Paperjam with his staff.

Paperjam waits a few seconds before bursting into laughter. “You- You really believed I was gonna be hurt by- by _that_?”

“No,” Starlight hums. He snaps his fingers and opens a portal above Paperjam. “But this will.” Three bricks fall onto Paperjam’s skull, knocking him out cold and with a few injuries.

“We’re leaving!” Nightmare calls out. Error lands next to Starlight, opening a portal and ushering both Starlight (who is carrying Lust) and Killer into the portal before coming in after and closing it. After a while, everyone returns back to the castle, in the commons.

On one couch, Starlight sits with a still sleeping Lust in his lap, Dust sitting on the other side with Killer sitting on the coffee table as the two attend to each other’s wounds. On the other couch, Horror and Cross sleep, their minor wounds already bandaged. Nightmare and Error sit on the floor, tending to their injuries, though Nightmare’s are nearly non-existent at this point and Error didn’t take much physical damage.

“Well, now what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am willing to take suggestions for "Recollection," if any of you are willing.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


End file.
